December is often the best time of the year to spread cheer and gratitude.
That’s exactly what Geoff Haines, the athletic director for the Ocean City School District, did recently when he personally delivered Ocean City goodies to representatives of Delta Airlines in Philadelphia to return the company’s goodwill.
Gifts including school memorabilia, T-shirts, a hand-painted personalized rock from the ‘WE ROCK’ kindness initiative and a message of thanks, were included in the package to thank the airline for the pivotal role it played in getting the high school’s boys and girls cross country teams to Orlando, Fla., for Disney’s invitational race at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in October.
“We were blown away by Delta’s generosity,” Haines said in a press release. “The kindness shown by the airline directly ties in with the message of our WE ROCK initiative, and we wanted to honor that with some visual reminders they can place behind the Delta desk in remembrance.”
After the cross country teams’ Frontier Airlines flight from Philadelphia to Orlando was canceled because of bad weather, Delta stepped in to provide a charter flight to Florida. Members of the cross country teams turned to social media when they were stranded by the canceled flight, which got the attention of Delta.
The airline’s willingness to act resulted in the boys varsity and junior varsity teams both winning first place out of the 78 competing high schools, the girls varsity team taking second place, and girls junior varsity taking fourth.
The school contacted Delta’s headquarters directly to thank the airline. In response, the school received a letter of thanks and congratulations from Delta CEO Ed Bastian.
“Delta went above and beyond in helping these student athletes achieve their goals to compete,” Ocean City Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kathleen Taylor said. “If not for them, the students would have missed the opportunity, and this was a trip they had been fundraising to attend for two years. We are appreciative and so thankful to everyone who was involved – from the airline representatives to the crew.”
